Temporary Threshold Shift Induced By Music

Three groups of young people, in all 10 males and 11 females, with different music listening habits listened to their own choice of music from a portable cassette player for one hour. The sound pressure level from the music was measured with a probe-provided miniature microphone in the external auditory canal close to the tympanic membrane.

The temporary threshold shift induced by the music, as well as by 1/3-octave band noise, was registered with Békéky audiometry. The females had significantly more temporary threshold shift than the males after noise-exposure.

Most subjects had only discrete temporary threshold shifts after one hour of listening to music, in spite of 91-97 dB listening levels. There were no significant differences in listening levels or music-induced threshold shifts between genders, although such differences were found between groups with different listening habits.